I went to bed a little before 10 last night, as usual, and slept decently, but when that alarm clock went off at 3:45 I was absolutely not ready to get up and moving. I managed to drag myself downstairs for my first coffee of the day and did well right through the drive to work. However, about a half hour after I got to work I was ready to go back to sleep. Fortunately, another cup of coffee at 7:30 was all that I needed to get over that hump and it has been quite a decent day since.

I feel rather helpless and that’s depressing. My lovely wife has been battling depression for some time now. When she’s in that bad place, there’s nothing that I can do to help.

On a completely different topic, I had my quarterly visit with my primary care physician yesterday afternoon. A few years ago he started me on cholesterol medication not because my LDLs (bad cholesterol) were high, but because my HDLs (the “good” cholesterol) was very low. My HDL numbers were hovering in the 20s, as I recall. he started me on Niaspan, a slow release high dose Niacin. I take it at night before bed. When I first started taking it, I would often wake up within a few hours sweating profusely and feeling rather tingly all over and flushed. That’s a side effect of high dose Niacin. I rarely wake from that any longer, but occasionally feel some of those symptoms if I don’t fall asleep quickly enough. That regimen helped, but not enough, so he added Crestor to the mix, which I take each morning. My numbers have been very good for some time now. I’m sure that the fact that I lost 80 pounds and exercise 5 to 6 days per week helps a whole lot, too. Anyway, he looked at the results of the most recent blood test and told me that he had never seen such an improvement or such good number for anyone in his practice. My total cholesterol was 119 and the values for LDL, HDL and Triglycerides were all in the 50s. Needless to say, I’m quite pleased with those numbers, too!

I have a few doctor visits today and tomorrow. This afternoon I am taking my father to Morristown again to see the kidney specialist. I leave work at noon to pick him up, which means that I’ll be getting home early, assuming that the appointment isn’t too long.

Then tomorrow morning I have my quarterly doctor visit with my GP. They will be drawing blood, so I need to fast. The appointment is at 8:45, which means that I get to sleep in a bit and then work from home while sipping black coffee with no sugar before heading to the appointment. I will go to the office for the rest of the day and head out the door by 3:30 to make my 4:15 appointment with the chiropractor. I’m looking forward to the adjustment this time as my neck and upper back have been pretty tight and stiff since late last week.

Other than the usual neck and shoulder issues, I’ve been feeling pretty decent for a while. I’m back into the workout routine. I know that I’m a few pounds heavier than I was before my Seattle trip at the beginning of March and almost 3 weeks without working out. Those pounds will be gone before long, though.

I called my father yesterday afternoon to check in and asked him how he was doing. He answered with one of his helpful replies <sarcasm> that he wasn’t doing great. Upon some further prodding I learned that he had gone outside in the early morning to pick some daffodils from the front garden and had fallen backwards onto the driveway. Besides some likely bruises, he didn’t hurt anything. However, he couldn’t get up. He told me that he worked his way to the steps and into the house without standing up! He was finally able to stand up once he got inside, but this was over an hour after he fell. I asked him why he didn’t press the button on the pendant he wears as the monitoring company would have sent help immediately if he hadn’t answered the call after he pressed it. Of course, he hadn’t thought of it. I took the opportunity to remind him that he needed to reconsider the fact that he needs more help at home, even if it is adding someone to come over on Sundays for several hours. Of course, I’d prefer if he finally gave in an got 24x7 help, but he’s way stubborn. Perhaps this incident will get him thinking, though.

No, not from eating to much, but I must admit that the eating was quite good while in Seattle for the 2009 MVP Summit. I know that I ate too much.

My head is stuffed up and I can’t hear well out of my left ear since landing yesterday morning. The descent to Newark airport was actually quite painful and I haven’t been able to pop my ear since. I had a slight fever yesterday and I think I’m running one now, too. I’m heading to bed shortly after taking a dose of Nyquil to clear my head and help me sleep through the night.

My father has a doctor’s appointment in Morristown both today and tomorrow, so I’m leaving work early both days to drive him to the appointments. Today’s appointment is with the kidney specialist. While the doctor is quite knowledgeable and I like him, I don’t know why we’re going to see him on a regular basis. Besides taking his blood pressure and listening to his circulation and breathing, he could consult with my father on the phone and come to the same outcome – no need for a procedure to clear your renal arteries, get more mild exercise, take the pills to help remove water from your body, and watch the salt intake.

Tomorrow is a bit more important, but it is also a bit backwards. This is with the doctor who performed the surgery for his aortic aneurysm. He’ll be getting a test done that will check the circulation in his neck. Then, next Wednesday I have to take him back to Morristown, to the building next to the doctor’s office building, for a CAT scan to confirm that all is well with the repair work on the artery. The results will go back to the vascular surgeon for review. If he had the results before the visit, these results could have been reviewed and discussed. I assume that the results will be good and that no immediate follow-up visit will be required. We’ll probably have to return in 6 months.

I think, perhaps, that I complain too much. It isn’t that I’m always in a foul mood. Quite the contrary, I’m actually in a pretty good mood most of the time. I try very hard not to let the situation with my parents get me down. That can be tough, though. It bugs me that Mom is basically bedridden and apparently unaware of anything around her. It bothers me that I had to intervene with my father’s junk mail situation. I think that writing about the bad things makes it easier for me to deal with them.

Overall, life is very good. I’ve got a loving wife, a great home, some awesome pets, good health, fun tech toys and computers, and many other things to be grateful for every day.

I know I’ve been a bit grouchy for the past few days. This morning started out decently, but on the way to work I decided that I should be grateful for the many good things in my life, rather than allowing the bad things to block my view and dictate my mood.

What caused this change of heart? As I drove up the windy road to work at about 6:30 in the morning, I saw flashing lights of a police car around the corner ahead. As I rounded the bend I could see that it wasn’t just a single police car for a traffic violation, but a slew of them, along with several fire trucks. It appears that someone crossed the center line rounding the bend and slammed head on into an oncoming vehicle. The scene was pretty messy. I couldn’t tell the state of the occupants, but I’m quite sure that it could not have been good, considering the state of the vehicles. So, basically, I’m grateful for the many good things in my life and I’ll deal with my father’s junk mail addiction one day at a time.

It's been a little while since I mentioned my weight loss progress and overall health. Well, I think I mentioned the fact that I was feeling the start of a cold last week, but that the cold was thankfully avoided.

Anyway, I'm doing quite well with my weight loss. I sort of wish that I had kept a daily log of my weight, which would not have been all that hard to do, since the resulting graph would have been interesting. It has taken much longer to lose the last few pounds than it took to lose the first pounds. However, I am happy to report that I'm consistently weighing in at about 172 to 174 pounds each morning since last week. When I started my diet and exercise change, I was nearly 250 pounds according to our bathroom scale. My goal at the time was to get down to below 200 and I hoped that I could reach 180, which is what I weighed in High School - 35 years ago! To have surpassed that goal in a little more than a year without being idiotic about a fasting diet, is excellent. Granted, I don't eat lunch, but I eat breakfast and dinner each day. From a diet perspective, the change was to avoid all junk food and to not eat lunch most days. The bigger part of the lifestyle change is the regular exercise. I still do my best to stick to the complete routine, though I've stopped working out on Sundays since I began the basement construction. That's physical work, so I think skipping a workout on Sundays is a wash.

I still have trouble with my upper back and neck, but not as severe as it was a few years aod. I try to watch my posture and can often go a few days with only minor discomfort. The monthly visit to the chiropractor makes me feel good for the evening, but if I'm not careful in how I sit at the computer, I can be in pain the very next day.

I got to thinking about wellness this week because Pennie came down with an intestinal bug that has wiped her out this week. I know how miserable that can be. It made me think about the week that I was out of commission for a nasty intestinal bug a few months back. She is feeling a bit better today, but is still far from 100%.

Since today is Wednesday, I stopped to see my parents, and that also got me thinking about health. My father is hanging in there. He is on pain medication for the case of Shingles that started when I was last out in Seattle. Apparently, he is one of the cases who didn't have a short term case. It hurts all the time. His foot and ankle swelling from fluid retention had gone down in recent weeks, but it swelled back up a few weeks ago and I know that's uncomfortable. Mom sleeps a whole lot and when she's not sleeping, she is singing loudly. Each day during the week, the caregiver from Visiting Angels helps her to a chair for a few hours for a change of scenery. This past Saturday, a new caregiver started, and she had Mom in the wheelchair in the Living Room when I arrived. I knew that Mom was wasting away, but to see her in the Living Room with shorts on, I was amazed and saddened by the fact that her legs were like sticks. Since she doesn't use them more than a few minutes per day, she has no muscle to speak of and her legs are tiny. She is looking more gaunt overall, but that's also to be expected. She eats and drinks fine most days, but being in bed so much takes its toll. I so hate the disease that took her from us. I am saddened each time I see both of my parents. I wish that my father had more help, but he refuses to hear of it. I do what I can to make sure that he is well, though.

So, there's good and there's bad in the health department in my life.

On Monday, one of my team members at work was coming down with a cold. Yesterday I sent him home early as he was clearly much worse. Unfortunately, I also started to get a scratchy throat. I was hoping that I was being a hypochondriac, but it started to get worse as the day progressed. When I got home I took a handful of pills – vitamin C, Zinc, Garlic, Echinacea – and washed them down with orange juice for good measure. Pennie advised me not to work out as my body didn’t need to be tired out while it fought the cold back. What the heck, I took the evening off. After all, I am now hovering around 175 pounds, which is less than I weighed when I was 17 years old! Before bed, I gulped a glass of “miracle juice” mixed with orange juice. I think I’ve mentioned it here before, but it is a brew made with astralagus, which is supposed to boost the immune system to fight a cold. So far, so good. I don’t have a scratchy throat today and I don’t have any congestion. I’m hoping that it has indeed been vanquished. However, I’m staying away from my team member and will be sure to have some more vitamins when I get home today and get to bed a little early, too.

I forgot to mention that one of the items I moved from the basement this weekend was the exercise bicycle, affectionately known as the “fat bike.” I was going to take it to the attic, but I decided it was going to be a bit too hot up there for cardiac aerobic riding of a bike during the summer months, plus the thing is pretty heavy. I managed to get it up to the spare bedroom. The 30 minute “ride” was more boring than usual, since there was no television in the spare bedroom. I reflected on the conditions of the wall as a pedaled furiously. Yesterday I pulled the wiring out from behind my bedroom TV (it is in an adjacent room) and found that I had left a splitter in place for the signal from the cable line and it was connected to the line heading to the spare bedroom. So, before my 30 minute workout yesterday evening I pulled out the old 13” television and hooked it up. Watching the news was so much better than contemplating the walls while sweating on an exercise bike!

Last night, we ate a wonderful Easter dinner that Pennie worked on pretty much all afternoon. I had picked up the smallest ham I could find at ShopRite to redeem my free holiday offer for having spent the requisite amount in the qualification period leading up to Easter. It was still pretty big. She also made scalloped potatoes from scratch, not the packaged kind. The meal was delicious and we've got plenty of leftovers to enjoy. We'll also be bringing a pretty decent amount of ham to my father tomorrow either before or after our visit with Pennie's surgeon.

I had a pretty good portion of ham since it was quite delicious. Although I also did the full workout yesterday and also lugged 12 boxes of 7 inch vinyl singles and 3 boxes of videos up to the attic, I didn't expect what I saw when I stepped on the scale this morning. Ta-da! The scale read 180! Since my weight can vary by a few pounds day by day, it may well read 182 tomorrow, but the fact that it read 180 this morning made me want to do the happy dance, for sure. When I started this diet and exercise routine just about 11 months ago now I set a series of goals for myself. I also didn't state what my actual starting weight was, but I can assure you it was over 240, not the 230 I mentioned in that post. It was probably closer to 250 than 240, depending on whose scale I was on - ours or the one in the doctor's office. My first goal was to try to reach 200 pounds some time in 2007. I reached that around October or November. That was a real cause for celebration, too. When I made it blow 190, that was a great feeling, too. I haven't been less than 200 since Pennie and I met. When I made it below 185, I didn't expect it to stay there since it happened when I was miserably sick and not eating more than soup for days. Well, none of that weight came back and I've managed to knock off a few more pounds to be at the lowest weight that I have been since 1992. My longer term goal is simple - to continue with a healthier lifestyle and to maintain the exercise routine. If that allows me to lose a few more pounds, to reach the ultimate goal of 170, that would be amazing, though I won't be disappointed if that 170 number remains out of reach. Right now, about the only fat on my body is at my waist. I'd love to see that slimmed down - it doesn't matter if I'm 180 or 170.

The dizzy spells that Pennie was experiencing seemed to be getting much better and less until yesterday, unfortunately. We both think that the cold front that came through, bringing lots of rain and a temperature change, was responsible. Actually, we are hopeful that the weather triggered it. I know Pennie is very frustrated by the continuing dizzy spells. She really wants to get back to her pet care assignments, partly to get out of the house and mostly because she misses the animals she has come to love visiting.

Her next appointment with the surgeon is Tuesday afternoon, so I'll be taking her this time and we'll find out what the surgeon thinks about the dizzy spells if they continue. Keep your fingers crossed that they go away soon!

Last Thursday, my father complained that he had a stiff neck from the night before. He had put some pain ointment on and taken Alleve, which he said helped. On Friday, he added an elastic bandage loosely wrapped around his neck and a scarf. Saturday, he was still bothered by it, so I suggested that he get a box of the Ben Gay patches that I swear by for my neck pain (which, by the way, has not bothered me too much over the past few weeks - perhaps my week of illness gave it a decent rest!) when we were at Shop Rite. Sunday afternoon, I called to check on them and he reported that he was very disappointed in the patches as they didn't stick and he felt nothing from them. Eh? I told him that I'd have a look Monday after work, but about an hour later I was checking it out already, since he called me back to ask for help in getting Mom off the floor!

Of course, I headed right down. He admitted that he forgot to place the chairs alongside the bed railing, which really doesn't do much to stop Mom from sliding off the bed alone. The railing is a mesh and tube affair that slips under a mattress and folds down for access. The problem is that their mattress is a 3 inch thick piece of foam, so it doesn't adequately stop the railing from popping off the bed, hence the chairs. Anyway, he forgot the chairs. I arrived and found him in the kitchen, so I quietly said to him, "Never forget the chairs" and headed to the bedroom to get Mom off the floor. He followed and angrily replied that he moves the chairs 20 times a day and he only forgot once. My simple reply was that it only takes once to forget... Mom wasn't hurt at all and was on her back, supported by a pillow, comfortable and fairly oblivious. I lifted her onto the bed and placed the railing back - along with the chairs.

Back to the patches... I checked that he had applied them correctly. He had placed one on each side of his neck. One was pretty balled up with the sticky side stuck to itself. The other one was partially attached to him and partially to his shirt. I adjusted both of them, but the biggest issue I encountered was that they really didn't stick to him at all since he was a bit sweaty from wearing a scarf around his neck (no bandage, at least) and a heavy T-Shirt and outer shirt. I am quite sure they slipped right off again. When I spoke to him on Monday, he told me that his neck was feeling much better, so I hope that the sore muscles have recovered. I also hope that he starts to take my advice soon that he needs to get some exercise - light walking and some light stretches should do it. If he intends to keep being Mom's caregiver, he needs to be his own caregiver first.

I've been feeling much better following my nasty illness of last week. Saturday was pretty normal with the usual shopping trip and other chores. Pennie had a bout of intestinal troubles, unfortunately, but that appears to have passed for now.

Yesterday, despite the loss of an hour due to the idiocy that is Daylight Savings Time, I cleaned the house and felt good about getting that accomplished. Of course, I ended up staying up too late - much like I'm doing right now!

I was back at the office today and had a particularly busy day. My boss reviewed my annual raise with me, which takes effect with the next paycheck for the month of March. While our raises have been pretty typical for quite a few years, I was pleased that mine was a tad higher than I expected and I thanked my boss for that. I know she has little latitude in the distribution of the raises since it works on a total budgeted amount for the department as calculated using a complicated formula of mid-point of grade, current salaries and a base percentage. She can adjust individual people up and down and qualify the reason with her manager for final approval and I was happy that mine was adjusted up a notch.

Pennie was feeling a bit better today and may have ended up doing a bit too much. She washed her hair, which meant bending sideways over the sink as she cannot get any water in or on her ear. And then she put her ear drops in, which also involves bending her head sideways. A few minutes after doing this she had a very nasty bout of vertigo. I left her sitting in the living room and went down to feed the dogs and then ride the exercise bike (which I haven't done in just over a week!), but before I could climb on the bike I heard a loud crash upstairs. I ran up the stairs as quickly as I could to find Pennie staggering to the kitchen to try to get to her anti-vert medication. She had fallen when getting up from the couch. I guided her back to the couch and got the pills for her. She ended up sleeping on the couch for a few hours - a side effect of the pills. She seems better now, but hopefully she will not overdo it again soon!

One very unfortunate side effect of this intestinal virus is that caffeine is to be avoided while the digestive system gets restored. I miss my coffee! Following my set back of the other evening, apparently from eating things that I should have avoided a bit longer, I'm doing quite a bit better today. I didn't climb back in bed this afternoon, but I'm still a bit tired and plan to get to bed shortly. I ate soup again for dinner, which was hard since I made dinner for Pennie - a meal we both love, Chicken Rigatoni. I missed eating that tonight, but I'd rather let my digestive system get back to normal.

I weighed myself this morning before showering. 182 pounds! Of course, being sick was not on the plan for weight loss and I'll probably gain those 5 pounds back once I am eating normally again, but it was still nice to see that low number.

Pennie's follow-up visit for her ear was today and she was happy to have the first packing removed. We go back in a week, but have to go to the clinic as her surgeon will be away. We were pleasantly surprised that we didn't have to wait too long to see him today. We were there about 30 minutes before our appointment and we probably waited under an hour, which is quite unusual with this doctor.

Late this afternoon I picked up ear drops at the pharmacy and also stopped in to see my parents. My father is definitely recovering well and is doing better, but Mom is sleeping even more than usual. I advised my father to call the doctor tomorrow as he is overdue in getting there to see her. He had told my father last week that he expected to be stopping in during this week, but with Friday upon us tomorrow, he hasn't been there yet. I'm not too happy with this doctor and may have to insist that my father switch to a different one that will make regular house calls to check on Mom. Of course, this would be less of an issue if she was in a facility, but since my father insists on taking care of her at home, a regular doctor visit is crucial.

After my experience last night, I didn't touch any solid food all day. After I fed the dogs I made a run to the Stop & Shop and bought some sports drinks and lots of chicken noodle soup. I'm hopeful that the soup is what my intestines are happy with this time. Clearly, my food choices yesterday was not up to par.

Tomorrow morning I will be driving Pennie back to UMDNJ for her follow-up visit. When I booked the appointment, I was told that he was already full up for that day, so I expect that we'll be waiting a while. Pennie seems to be healing up quite well. In fact, she complained today about itching, so I know that the surgical site is healing. And that is good news.

Pennie was craving some steak for dinner since yesterday, so this evening I made her some. I made myself white rice with chicken bullion. I know that she was very happy with her steak. I was tempted to have some as I've been feeling a bit better today, but decided that it was too early for that. I'm glad that I passed. For the past hour or so my intestines have been gurgling like crazy and I've made several extended trips to the toilet. :-( I guess that the symptoms are classic stomach virus. My fever came and went today and I wasn't as tired, but I guess that was a trick to make me think I was getting better. Pennie is getting better, thankfully. She had a few naps today, but overall, she's been up and doing well.

I was hoping that my illness would be over today - keeping my fingers crossed that it was a 24 hour bug. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I'm still running a fever today and I feel pretty miserable. I've checked emails and RSS feeds throughout the day, but haven't done newsgroups or the forums. I had to get some reports done for work and doing them took all of my energy for a bit. I'm actually heading back to bed shortly.

Pennie had a brief bout of dizziness early today, but I think that has passed. I do feel bad that I can't do much for her, particularly with cooking dinner. I just can't face that yet. Maybe tomorrow.